1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to multimedia communication and presentation.
2. Related Art
In computer systems for communicating and presenting data, it is desirable to communicate and present data in a multiplicity of media. Such communication is sometimes called “multimedia communication.” For example, these media can include text, sound, pictures, animation, and combinations thereof. One advantage of multimedia communication is that it can more vividly communicate messages to recipients.
One problem in the known art is that multimedia elements comprise significant amounts of data, and are therefore difficult to construct from “scratch” (that is, from basic elements) and difficult to enter into a computer system. This problem is acute for pictures and similar graphical elements, which must generally be “captured” using video equipment. For example, it would be desirable for users to be able to enter picture data into messages for sending, such as when using electronic chat or electronic mail systems. However, known electronic chat systems do not provide this capability, and known electronic mail systems provide only techniques by which pictures that have already been captured using other equipment can be attached to electronic mail messages and transmitted.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a system in which multimedia elements can easily be entered and modified, especially in real time. This advantage is achieved in a system in which multimedia elements are associated with keystroke or mouse abbreviations so as to be easily entered from a keyboard or mouse, and in which properties of both individual multimedia elements and an ensemble of multimedia elements can be edited to alter the presentation of those multimedia elements.